Time to Fly
by xKawaiixTsukix
Summary: Since Kagami discovered the truth about her best friend, she's lonely, and she feels like she isn't the only one. Even though he's popular, there's something about Megumi Hanajima that she can't quite put her finger on. [MegumiOC]
1. Chapter 1

"_**We did not change as we grew older; we just became more clearly ourselves."**_

There was a book of curses rested on his lap, as always, notes scribbled in the corner, and pages worn and yellow from overuse. Megumi Hanajima certainly got some strange glances from people, but I decided a long, long time ago that he was different - in a good way. Yes, he was attractive, with black hair in a style that was nothing special, and eyes that were filled with passion, and longing to find something in the little books he was never without. Megumi was smart too, and although sports wasn't one of his favourite subject, he even excelled in that lesson. But there was one fault that lay underneath all that, a problem that only someone in a similar position would understand - he was lonely, and all he was really ever asking for was a friend, not another admirer.

As I sat in the tree, watching him from afar, I wondered what Megumi was really like. He had a tendency to wear black, and often scared people if they were talking about him behind his back, which they often were.

"I heard his sister sees waves or something," I overheard one of the upperclassmen saying in the library once when I was researching. "And he's not all that normal either. He cursed my sister's friend once, _and_ she was attacked by the wave-girl."

At first I had no idea who they were talking about, until my mind wandered to the boy all the girl gossiped about because of his good looks, and all the boys gossiped about because of his strangeness. Suddenly, I longed for Megumi Hanajima, who I had never really noticed before, to be my friend, although everything I knew about to him was thanks to my good hearing.

"He's so cool!" first-years whispered as he passed.

Of course, the boys in the school didn't enjoy it much. "What are they? Idiots? He's so _weird_ - why would they like _him_?"

I sighed, and averted my gaze from the reading boy, and instead focused it on a crowd of third-years below who were playing Da Hin Min

"Kagami-chan? Come down from there, you'll end up hurting yourself!"

I jumped, and almost lost my balance, but grasped hold of a branch before I was about to fall, and landed gracefully in front of my best friend - Mai Yamashita. She grabbed hold of one of my black curls, and began to tug on it violently.

"Don't. You. Ever. Climb. A. Tree. _Again!_ Got it?"

I winced, and pulled by long hair up into a ponytail, pieces of it spilling out from the sides. "Why? What's the problem?"

"Don't you see, Kagami-chan? People are treating you like a _Yankee_! You're never there for half of the classes, you're always climbing trees and you're always in a bad mood around people!"

I half-heartedly flattened down my short brown skirt, adjusted my jumper, and re-tied the ribbon around my neck, just so she'd be pleased with how I looked at least. I didn't bother pulling down my socks, which were pulled as high above my knees as they would go, nor did I even make an attempt to fix my hair, but Mai looked pleased enough, took my hand and dragged me off.

Little did I know, the word 'Yankee' had attracted the attention of a certain someone, who had stopped reading about curses for a second, just to see what was going on.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked innocently, using my free hand to catch the hair tie that just fell out my hair. "Did you know I was doing something very important up in tree. I was making sure that none of the first-years were in danger. You know, hide-and-seek is a very vicious game."

"Sure, sure - because first-years play hide-and-seek, right? For God's _sake_, Kagami-chan, I _know_ what you were doing up there. You don't have to hide it from me, OK?"

We were now sitting on a bench in a secluded area of the school. I looked at my best friend with a slightly raised eyebrow, and began to eat the muffin she had offered me, half-heartedly. "Hide what?" I asked her. "Stop being ridiculous."

"Oh come on - you have a crush on Megumi Hanajima, don't you? I saw you watching him - it was written all over your face." Mai slouched a little and played around with her neat brown hair as she ate a sandwich, unknowst to the bewildered, almost angry expression on my face.

What did she just say?

"No - _no freakin' way_," I answered in a small voice. "I told you - I don't want a boyfriend, I don't _need_ a boyfriend, and even if I did have one, what makes you think I would choose him?"

"Hmph." Mai tilted her head. "Well - he's good-looking, smart, good at sports - everything a Yankee girl like you desires but will never have."

"Yankee girl?!"

"What? You seriously aren't considering it?"

"It was _you _who starting calling me that - and I've never considered being a Yankee - not now, not ever! How can you say something like that to your best friend? That's awful - it's just... I can't put into words how horrible that sounds coming from you. Aren't you supposed to be my best friend?"

"Hm, I am? Really..."

"Don't play dumb with me, idiot. First you surprise me by saying I have a crush on _Megumi Hanajima_, and then you call me a _Yankee_? What the hell?"

"It's that attitude that will-"

"I dare you to finish that sentence, Mai, I dare you."

"Don't you threaten me! What are you doing when you skip class? Huh? I bet your burning down buildings, or running around with a gang. You look innocent enough, but I don't even know you that well. You call me your best friend, but you never invite me to your house, and we never go out with each other or anything like that."

"If that's how you feel, then you can just have your muffin back!"

I threw the chocolate muffin that I had only just taken a bite out of at Mai. It hit her, even though she held up her arm. For a second or two, she sat there in shock, as crumbs rolled out of her hair, and then she stood up abruptly, grasping the sandwich in her left hand.

"That shot was pretty good for someone who claims not to fight!"

Mai threw the sandwich, which hit the side of my head. Butter, lettuce and cucumber clung to my curls, as I very slowly lowered my hands which her protecting the front of my face. She looked _livid_, and apparently, so did I. More so than I sounded.

"I don't _care_ anymore!" I screamed at her. Grabbing my bag, I darted towards the girl's bathroom to fix my hair. I had to pass a few classrooms on the way there, and I got a few scared and confused glances from people. Was my reputation really that bad? Did people really think I was a-

"Yankee? Hm... I don't know... maybe..."

I froze, and took small steps back, so I was hidden behind the corner.

"To be honest? I don't think she'd have the nerve. I mean, she does her homework, and doesn't say much, but that's when she's _in_ class. The thing is, even she doesn't see that people are scared of her. Mai-san is saying things about her, even though their supposed to be best friends, and, well, all the Yankee rumours come from Mai and Mai alone. I think it's just jealousy, really. Kagami-san is a pretty good looking girl, right? And she got a high score on her exams last year, second only to you, even if she wasn't in class half the time. But Mai-san _is_ right. No one really knows what Kagami-san does out of school. And her hair might be shiny and black, but that doesn't make her innocent, does it? Why did you ask?"

"Hm. No reason."

_I knew that voice!_

"Isn't your sister friends with a girl who used to be a Yankee?"

"Yes, but she and Kagami-san are completely different."

I didn't want to hear anything else. This was the first time I'd heard people _gossiping_ about me, and one of the people doing it was Megumi Hanajima. I brushed my hair with my fingers, and made sure all the salad was out. Of course, the butter wouldn't come out unless I washed it, and if I was going to do that now, I'd have to pass _those two_. I knew who the second boy was - one of Megumi's only friends, but I still couldn't believe _he_ would even dare to...

I decided to go the long way. It meant I would have to miss the beginning to class, but it wasn't like I was even considering to go anyway.

Damn him! And to think – I wanted to be his friend!

**A/N****: Because I didn't introduce you to 'Time to Fly' at the beginning of the chapter, and instead gave you a quote: welcome! Some of my favourite characters are only secondary characters, so my stories are mostly about them, and Megumi is just the first. I hope you enjoy, and remember to review. And by the way – 'change' is one of the main factors in this story, so the quote is suitable and not just random, 'kay? **


	2. Chapter 2

_**"We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less like a second chance."**_

They think they know everything, but really they know anything about me at all. It's people like Mai Yamashita that make me want to get away from things, but it's people like Megumi Hanajima that made me want to stay. But that's when I remember - I don't really know anything about Megumi Hanajima do I? He, like everyone else doesn't know anything like me, and blame it on my so-called anti-social behaviour.

I was in the park, the butter washed out of my hair long ago, and a dark cloud hanging above me. School was just about finished, and something deep inside me, willed for me to change into someone people could respect. But, that was impossible. With my reputation, which by now was probably deadly, if I tried to be kind, all I would be rewarded with would be an odd glance. In fact, would people even give me a chance to be nice?

"Oh no!"

I snapped out of my thoughts, and saw a girl in the Kaibara High School uniform hurrying to pick up the groceries she had dropped just a second ago. Something told me to help her, but I felt a little nervous doing so. What if she had heard of me?

"Are- are you OK?"

I crouched in front of her, and began to pick up a carton of milk, and handed it to the girl shyly.

"Ah- oh- no, no, please don't worry about me, I'm fine, honestly, ah- thank-you!"

She took the milk carton and put it in the bag, before standing up, clutching the grocery bag a little too tightly, and giving me a wide smile. "Thank-you very much! Do you go to Kaibara Middle School?"

"Um... yeah," I answered. She was kind of easy to talk to... "You must go to Kaibara High School, right?"

"Yes! I'm Tohru Honda-!"

"Hey, Tohru - you OK?"

An arrogant, but pretty looking blonde girl walked over to us, in a similar uniform to Tohru, except with a much longer skirt. I raised my eyebrows. Were these two seriously friends? They were different in so many ways.

"Yes! I'm fine! I was helped by... um-"

"Kagami Hasegawa."

"I was helped by Hasegawa-san! She goes to Kaibara Middle School!"

The blonde girl's eyes widened slightly. "Hey, you look about the same age as Megumi - do you know him? Megumi Hanajima."

I narrowed my eyebrows stubbornly. "Yeah - I do."

Tohru looked surprised. "You... don't get on well? That's such a shame!"

I shook my head. "Oh, no, it's not that we don't get on well, I don't talk to him, although he's in my class, and, well..."

"He didn't curse you did he?!" Tohru suddenly exclaimed. "That would be horrible - I mean, he doesn't curse us, but he curses other people, like the manager at the place Uo-chan works! But I didn't think he cursed people at _school_. Hana-chan will-"

"No, no, he didn't curse me... are you Uo-chan-san?" I asked the blonde girl.

"Yup, that's me! Arisa Uotani, and Hana-chan is Saki Hanajima, Megumi's big sister. Speaking of Hanajima, we need to go and see her in a minute."

"Well, don't let me keep you, 'kay?"

"OK! See you soon, Hasegawa-san!"

I waved, and sat down on the bench. Tohru, Arisa and Saki? I doubted I would ever meet Tohru or Arisa again, nor would I ever have the chance to meet Saki Hanajima, but I felt a lot happier suddenly. Did I just make friends? It was easy! And they didn't hate me either. Those rumours were just stupid.

Meanwhile, Tohru and Arisa were approaching Saki, who was with Megumi.

"Ah, Hana-chan! Megumi-san!" Tohru ran over to Saki, still clutching the groceries in her arms. "We got the things for this evening. If you don't mind, I even picked up a dessert!"

"Ah! Tohru, it's been such a long time since we've been blessed with your cooking. Tonight will be very fun," the black-haired girl in the same uniform as the other two answered, giving Tohru a serene smile.

"Yeah, it's been a long time since we've been able to have a sleepover, hasn't it?" Arisa asked, stuffing her hands in her pockets.

Tohru smiled back at her two friends, and suddenly remembered something that happened only minutes ago.

"Ah, Megumi-san! We bumped into a girl from your school! Kagami Hasegawa," Tohru told the youngest Hanajima sibling. "She says she doesn't know you well, but you're in her class."

Megumi nodded. "I've only heard rumours about her really."

"Rumours?" Tohru repeated, wide-eyed. "What did you hear? I think she was really, really nice!"

"Not much," Megumi answered curtly. "Her best friend has been spreading rumours that aren't true about her - saying that she's a Yankee. Kagami-san took the afternoon off after they had an argument and that only gave her best friend more reasons to spread more rumours."

"Whoa," Arisa answered. "That's pretty... well... I know a Yankee when I see one, and that girl was _not_ one."

I saw them talking as I walked out of the park, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. I saw Megumi, and I even saw Saki, but what worried me the most was the concerned look on Arisa's face, and the shocked, sad look on Tohru's. I knew right away that they had been talking about me. There was nothing else they could have been talking about.

"Damn," I cursed, kicking a stone in front of me. "Just when I was making friends."

All I really needed to do was forget about Tohru and Arisa. I thought I had a second chance when I helped Tohru, but really, when they mentioned Megumi... I should have known it was no good.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!"

I kicked open the front door of my house, which wasn't that long of a walk away, with enough force to knocked someone unconscious, and stormed upstairs to my room, pulling off my coat, and then lying on my stomach, on my bed. Stupid rumours – did Mai really spread them? She was too idiotic, surely? Ugh, it didn't matter anyway. My life was over for all Megumi Hanajima cared.

**A/N****: If you're reading this, you've followed the story so far, and are probably enjoying it. That means a lot to me! Thank-you to all readers, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter, even though there was no Megumi/Kagami interaction. I'm currently am enjoying writing this fan-fiction, and have Chapter Three all planned out! I missed something out in this chapter that I was actually planning to put in, but it will be in Chapter Three. It's nothing super exciting, but at least in the next chapter Megumi and Kagami will have a conversation. Or an argument, at least.**


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